{"id":17911,"date":"2019-10-18T20:53:31","date_gmt":"2019-10-18T12:53:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/first-all-female-spacewalk-team-aces-a-repair-job-in-orbit-and-makes-history\/"},"modified":"2019-10-18T20:53:31","modified_gmt":"2019-10-18T12:53:31","slug":"first-all-female-spacewalk-team-aces-a-repair-job-in-orbit-and-makes-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/first-all-female-spacewalk-team-aces-a-repair-job-in-orbit-and-makes-history\/","title":{"rendered":"First all-female spacewalk team aces a repair job in orbit \u2014 and makes history"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NASA astronaut Christina Koch floats on the end of the International Space Station\u2019s robotic arm during a spacewalk. (NASA via YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For the first time in history, two women teamed up today for a spacewalk.<\/p>\n

NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir began the operation to fix a faulty electrical power system on the International Space Station at 7:38 a.m. ET (4:38 a.m. PT)  \u2014 setting a new precedent in the process.<\/p>\n

During a break in the action, the spacewalkers took a congratulatory phone call from the White House.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re brave people \u2014 I don\u2019t think I want to do it, I must tell you that. But you are amazing people,\u201d President Donald Trump told the pair. \u201cThey\u2019re conducting the first-ever female spacewalk to replace an exterior part of the space station.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meir corrected the record in her reply.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want to take too much credit, because there have been many other female spacewalkers before us,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is just the first time that there have been two women outside at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meir said she and Koch were \u201cjust coming out here and doing our jobs today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time, we recognize that it is a historic achievement, and we do of course want to give credit to all those that came before us,\u201d she told the president. \u201cThere has been a long line of female scientists, explorers, engineers and astronauts, and we have followed in their footsteps to get us where we are today. We hope we can provide an inspiration to everybody \u2014 not only women, but to everybody that has a dream, that has a big dream, and is willing to work hard to make that dream come true.\u201d<\/p>\n

This was the first spacewalk for Meir, a space rookie who arrived at the station last month. It was the fourth spacewalk for Koch, who\u2019s been on the space station since March and is due to set a 328-day women\u2019s record for continuous time in space next year. The operation was originally set to last five and a half hours, but things went so smoothly that the pair agreed to do an hour\u2019s worth of extra work..<\/p>\n

Another woman astronaut, Stephanie Wilson, coordinated the spacewalk at NASA\u2019s Mission Control in Houston.<\/p>\n

Ken Bowersox, NASA\u2019s acting associate administrator for human exploration and operations, said it\u2019s taken so long to have an all-female spacewalk team in part because of physical characteristics and equipment limitations. \u201cIt\u2019s a little bit like playing in the NBA,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Historically, NASA has favored taller astronauts for spacewalks, and those astronauts tended to be men, Bowersox explained. But with a more diverse astronaut corps, NASA is devoting more attention to accommodating a wider range of body sizes \u2014 and spacesuit sizes.<\/p>\n

The first pairing of two spacewalking women was originally scheduled in March, but that plan had to be put off when NASA decided they couldn\u2019t get two medium-size spacesuit torsos ready on schedule. Instead, the spacewalk lineup was shuffled to have the women working alongside male crewmates.<\/p>\n

Koch and Meir were well-equipped for today\u2019s spacewalk, which addressed an urgent problem on the space station.<\/p>\n